The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1887-05-25
SOME DARK TEACHINGS.
n PLANTATION NIGHT SCHOOL Fol;
NEGROES BEFORE THE WAR.


some Entertaining Rccollcctions OF til,
Times Before the Civil War.
From New York Commercial Advcr! User
AS is well known, it was held to bt
against good policy in the South, in tho
old days, that the slaves should be taught
to read. 10 teach them was, in fact,
prohibited by law in most of the States
1t would bo an error to suppose, how.
ever, that none Of them were so taught.
For the master Of the plantation was, in
many ways, an absolute monarch every
farm sort of kingdom-and these
potentates chose to judge for themselves
how strict should be their obedience to
general laws, how far they would allow
themselves to be controlled by the Lagis.
lature in the internal economy of their
little principalitios
Southern planters were in the habit of
having such of their slaves tauaht to
read rs they chosc-law or no law. |,
myself, at tho age of twelve, was princi-
pal of school consisting of half dozen
of minc and others slaves; and some ac-
count of my methods may interest the
teachers, professors and other literati of
our day.
The object of the school was tho high
est possible. Indeed, it was not n
school nor even college,; it was theo-
logical seminary. All my pupils were
preparing for the ministry
10 this day / remember with pride
now thoroughly unscctarian was my in
struction l made no effort to bull those
slaves into accepting nv dogmas, rs
proof OF which | oiler the &,ct that
whereas ] WIS then, as now, a stnrdy
upholdcr OF EpiscOpalianism, every one
OF my graduates turned Baptist.
held my school in the kitchen after
supper My pupils sat in row on n
bench, one of tier number holding
aloft spluttcring torch Of fat pine. it
gave strong II unsteady light; but was
subject to this drawback Being held
near the head Of whosocvcr huppCucd to
be reading, it is more than probable that
by overheating one lobc Of the brain the
symmetrical development of that organ
was marred.
That, however, did not much disturb
us, seeing that Meth they nor | were
aware that We carried lobcs of any kind
concealed about our persons.
From time to time, too, as the torch
vas passed up and down the line, drUps of
burning tar fell upon the hands, arms
and nccks of my students, diyorting
their attention, nay, causing them at
times to dancc up and down the floor
Even so, philosopher looking on might
have dilnly perceived how fairly good
and i'll are distributed, on the who'll, in
r this best OF all possible worlds, for the
cook and her scullion, seeing these
young theologians capcring and SUCKING
the pitch from their rugged fists, gave
forth peal after peal OF free and Joyous
laughter, SO that things averaged up
pretty well, after ali.
This was not free scminaIy--far
from it. My patrons were drawn from
among the most substantial citizens on
the plantation. They were able to pay
and L made them pay. No student OF
divinity could keep n scat on that bench
without bringing me at the close Of each
month n dozen new laid eggs, worth, at
that time, u cents; SO that eight
months tuition cost exactly 81. Prepay
ing was not insisted on. Yet / cannot
recall that on this account | was ever the
loser by even an egg. AS | myself
raised chickens, | was very glad, too,
when hens were dilatory in their laying,
to let an account run over and receive at
the close of two months young prllet.
My wages were swcct-hugh not yc
professors pulled up with fat salaries, ye
school principals rolling in luxury!
My discipline was that of those be-
nighted days. The rod then prevailed
throughout the length and breadth OF
the land, nor do l believe my class
would have valued my instruction nt an
ogg shell, even had abolished it. But
such thought could not have occurred
to q lad who had not thought it strange
when his own teacher, having asked him
if he was ready with his Virgil, and he
replied, "not yet, had received three
hoggings The first for not knowing the
Virgil, tho two following with intervals
of rest for the tcachor for not crying.
SO they stumbled along through their
tasks, kept up the circulation In their
backs and shoulders. Neither they nor
/ would have heard without astonish-
ment that there was any other way OF
stimulating diligence or quickcning the
brain. | suppose, however, that my
furnishings could not have been very
severe, for | remember that they were
the occasion of great liIarity. This was
especially the case when it came TO the
turn OF Joe Nelson to recitc Joe wGs a
.am0u8 Bsuttarer. he weG my youngest
pupil, a broad shouldered carpenter, 70
years of age. He was exceedingly con
ceited and not little ain--conccitcd as
to his intellectual gifts and vain OF his
fascinations with the plantation damscls
These qualities, however, did not pre-
vent him from being thoroughly good
fellow, and he and j were devoted
friends as long as he lived. But my
affection for him did not save his back
from ono single stroke Of the peach tree
shoot upon which l frightened my grasp
as soon as he opened fire. My way was
not to wait till the close of u session and
then mete out tho sum total of merited
castigation. In my seminary justice did
not limp. AT every trip there came a
rap. Punishment trod upon the heels